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Repair exterior painted shingle siding

The owner previous to me used a grinder (probably in a drill) to sand cedar shingle siding that has been painted.
He put lots of grinder gouges and circles in soft shingles. I have been filling those with a exterior product "MH Ready Patch" a Zinsser product. I need to sand this smooth to correct grinder gouges. I have tested a chunk of paint that came off and it was lead based paint originally used back in the 60's. I am concerned about the dust even though I am trying not to get into underlying paint. I am using an Milwaukee Orbital sander that has a dust bag on it and have a NOSH mask to wear. Am concerned about breathing lead dust should I hit a high spot or get into underlying paint while sanding using a 50 grit sanding disk.
Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Repair exterior painted shingle siding

Connect a vacuum cleaner to the sander and remember to take precautions when emptying it. A fan blowing across the area away from you will help where you're at but will not contain what it blows away. Since lead is mostly a ingestion/inhalation hazard that should be adequate.

Lead, asbestos, and silica can be harmful, but they are natural elements found almost everywhere so if it was as bad as some would have you believe I think we'd all be deal long ago. Exercise sensible precautions and don't worry about it- the stress of worrying will kill you too!

Re: Repair exterior painted shingle siding

Originally Posted by Mastercarpentry

Connect a vacuum cleaner to the sander and remember to take precautions when emptying it. A fan blowing across the area away from you will help where you're at but will not contain what it blows away. Since lead is mostly a ingestion/inhalation hazard that should be adequate.

Lead, asbestos, and silica can be harmful, but they are natural elements found almost everywhere so if it was as bad as some would have you believe I think we'd all be deal long ago. Exercise sensible precautions and don't worry about it- the stress of worrying will kill you too!

Phil

Thanks Phil, today would be a good day to sand as it will be windy and as I said, I hopefully won't get into lead paint as this house is 55yrs old and been painted a few times. I am hoping this mask I was told to buy will catch
any dust. As for a vacuum, I would have to have a lot of shop vac hose to reach up on the side of the house while on a ladder but that would be a good idea. This sander seems to catch a lot of dust in its bag.